Lisa made her kids impervious to advertising by asking pointed questions that forced them to think about the source and truthfulness of ads. She knew action was needed when when her kids, who weren’t old enough to read, stopped in front of the bleach while shopping to ask the advertiser’s dream question: “Mom, aren’t we going to buy some Clorox?” Hit the jump to see how she responded.
What we decided to do was slightly unconventional, but it made sense to us. We inoculated our boys using a principle I had learned in a college communications course. Little by little, we taught them about basic economics and simple marketing techniques used by companies to encourage people to part with their hard-earned money. The theory was that if they could recognize the tactics companies used to market a product to people, then our children would become resistant to the claims presented in commercials and slowly learn to be discerning about their validity.
We didn’t sit the boys down for long lectures; rather, every time we noticed that a commercial or a print ad caught their attention, we asked them if they thought the product really did what the commercial claimed. This introduced the idea that sometimes people say things that aren’t true and that it was okay for them to question what they saw and heard. It also taught the boys that what they think is important and valuable.
At the same time, we explained to them how companies need money to pay their workers and themselves, and how those companies try to convince others to buy their products in order to make money. Slowly, we began to see a change in their behavior.
We knew our approach was working when, only a few months later, the boys asked me which paper towels we used. Soon after I answered them, I heard the sounds of running water and giggling coming from the downstairs bathroom. When I went to investigate, I saw Andy and Matt busily soaking paper towels and loading them with various toys. The explanation? They were testing the assertion that the towels were so strong they could carry heavy loads even when wet. The twins were so pleased the claims were true that Matt insisted we use nothing but this particular brand of towel in the future.
Aw, isn’t that cute? We still feel guilty for the time we asked our parents to order Pizza Hut after seeing an ad for their new (at the time) cheese stuffed crust conglomeration. We now hate Pizza Hut and miss our local pizzeria.
Have you taught your kids to turn a critical and distrusting eye towards advertisements? Tell us how you did it in the comments.
How to Inoculate Your Children Against Advertising [Get Rich Slowly]
(Photo: notsogoodphotography)
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I’m a school librarian (I know: sexy, right?). Anyway, one of the (many) things I try to do is teach children how to be information literate… and that includes judicious consumption of mass media and advertising. Unfortunately, this topic is not on our state’s standardized test, so it’s hard to get time to work with the students.
My parents did the same exact thing to me…and I ended up in Marketing. lol
The upside is that I’m pretty impervious to marketing/sales tactics now — a friend actually commented on how it’s very easy to tell I’m in marketing because almost everything in my house is generic…so maybe this IS the right approach!
Luckily, my parents also instilled this wisdom into me at a very young age. I’ve now grown to responsibly spend my money, and every time I make a purchase I ask myself if I really need what I’m buying. I don’t even get french fries with my burgers anymore.
“This introduced the idea that sometimes people say things that aren’t true and that it was okay for them to question what they saw and heard. It also taught the boys that what they think is important and valuable.”
Here’s two boys that WON’T grow up to be sheeple! KUDOS to the parents!
Heyya! Registered just so I could post this reply to the article.
While I don’t have any kids of my own, I’m grateful to my parents for pulling similar sneaky stunts on me during my upbringing.
I specifically remember a time where a breakfast cereal commercial was advertising a new prize… I told my Dad I wanted it. He reminded me that I didn’t (and never have) like breakfast cereal and that for the same price as a box of that stuff, we could buy a much more interesting toy.
To demonstrate his point, we went shopping. He showed me the price of the cereal then told me to go to the toy section and pick out something for the same price or less. Being a fast learner, I picked *2* toys that added up to the same price as the cereal. Dad approved and I was very pleased with my 2 new waterguns.
So… yeah, this stuff works. I credit my folks with infusing me with an strong resistance to marketing which eventually developed into full fledged aversion.
@SeraSera: I remember Zillions! Used to subscribe to it as a kid. I think it was called “Penny Power” prior to changing the name to Zillions. FTW!!!1!!1!
Additionally, I know some adults who could use this type of training against commercials…
@AbstractConcept: I don’t think it’s ever too early to start teaching lessons like this. Toy companies have started targeting kids as young as 2 or 3 with their advertising. If the advertisers are targeting an age group, it’s definitely not too early to teach them about advertising.
But doesn’t this article make you question how much “street sense” adults in this country have?
I mean the last person you can blame for falling into advertising traps is your kids and the first person your parents. Yet every single day, you (yes that’s YOU) make decisions that are subtly influenced by advertising. When does the scapegoating stop and the introspection begin?
Excellent parenting trick. Subtle mind-control games to offset the subtle mind-control from the commercials. That’s pretty clever.
Though, wouldn’t it be even better to just steer the kids away from the TV? I’ve already cut it off in my home, and even I’m starting to feel the effects.
Questioning things instead of assuming everything someone tells them is the truth is gonna cause some problems in school.
My son got a useful object lesson in the difference between commercials and reality.
Despite misgivings from both my wife and I, he insisted on buying one of those Air Hogs R/C helicopters which, according to the commercials, can do everything just short of winning the Global War on Terror by sheer force of awesomeness.
He soon realized that several weeks’ of allowance had purchased him a 6-inch long hunk of styrofoam with the “awesome” ability to go up and down and very little else, and that for all of 40 seconds per charge.
I think it’s worth it for him to become more wary of flashy advertising.
You taught them “it was okay for them to question what they saw and heard”? Are you some freedom hating terrorist? If you don’t blindly except everything at face value with a smile, you’re not American!
It’s stories like this that make me want to have a kid to make him/her just like me!
@SkyeBlue: My mom and dad thought much the same thing about a video game system, so they refused to buy an NES for me and my brother… unless we ponied up half the dough. Which we did. It was a great way to teach us a lesson in saving money. Even if my brother did lord it over me that he pitched in $10 more than I did.
Once you have the system, the games really aren’t that bad, unless of course you insist on buying new releases.
My ex’s son is a walking-talking commercial. He’s only 2.5 years old, so he doesn’t really understand a lot of what he’s saying or what others say, but some of his first words were crap from commercials, which to me was really embarrassing because I grew up in a household without TV for half a year a time (my mom took away TV access from the start of summer until X-Mas), although my ex didn’t/doesn’t mind so much (just one of many arguments…). Whenever we’d drive around, he’d point out all the fast food restaurants. His favorite was Denny’s, and before he could really even talk somewhat properly he’d get super agitated and frantic when we’d drive by Denny’s and start yelling “Cancakes, cancakes!” because he really loves pancakes and knew the Denny’s logo. He’s a fanatical car lover and knows every brand of car based on their symbol, obviously not because he can read the names. I once bought him some hot wheels cars, specifically a Dodge Challenger 2007 concept, from the grocery store. I had in in a plastic bag, and was about to pull it out, but he recognized the hot wheels symbol and freaked.
He sure does love his Godge though. That’s not a typo.
Seth Godin should introduce a line of books for kids and tell them all about the intrusive ugliness of most advertising so our youth get desensitized/aware of the crap much earlier.